Legal dispute over heating woes in Somerset County hits snag

Star-Ledger file photoA settlement between nationwide home builder Pulte Homes and more than 100 Franklin Township homeowners was supposed to put an end to the heating problems plaguing their drafty homes. Now a snag in the settlement process threatens to undo the progress made in the years-long dispute.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP — A settlement six months ago between nationwide home builder Pulte Homes and more than 100 Franklin Township homeowners was supposed to put an end to the heating problems plaguing their drafty homes.

Now a snag in the settlement process threatens to undo the progress made in the years-long dispute.

Homeowners in the age-restricted Somerset Run community are still without fixes to their heating difficulties, as both sides have returned to the negotiating table to clarify the agreement, said Franklin Township Councilwoman Rozalyn Sherman.

"There was some sort of misunderstanding," said Sherman, who also lives in the development.

The misunderstanding centers around the number of homes the Michigan-based company needs to address. According to Sherman, Pulte believed it was responsible for just the 115 homes that reported heating issues. But the homeowners and Franklin Township officials, who are representing Somerset Run in the dispute, thought the agreement applied to all of the community’s 491 single-family homes.

"Unfortunately, Franklin Township continues to try and change the scope of the work proposed," Pulte spokeswoman Valerie Dolenga said in a written statement. "We have cooperated fully with the Somerset County Construction Board of Appeals, the arbiter of this dispute."

If they can’t work out a compromise, the issue will return before the board of appeals. A hearing has not yet been scheduled, a secretary for the board said Thursday.

It’s the latest setback in the dispute, which has been marked by repeated attempts to settle. Residents began reporting high heating bills in their certified energy-efficient homes in late 2003, soon after they began to move in.

For years, they tried to force Pulte to offer a solution, but it wasn’t until June 2010 when the county board of appeals first reviewed the issue. That review was put on hold as both sides tried to settle.

When that effort failed, the hearing resumed last May and was paused again for another settlement attempt, which also stalled.